Acts for climate and pressure on war reflect identity crisis in Scholz alliance

Two moments experienced in Germany this Tuesday (17th), linked to two of the biggest global crises of the moment, although not directly related to each other, help to illustrate the delicate moment of the coalition of Prime Minister Olaf Scholz.

One was the first major change in the cabinet, with the inauguration of the Social Democrat Boris Pistorius in the Ministry of Defense, in the face of international pressure for Berlin to act in order to influence the future of the Ukrainian War. Another is the arrest, for a few hours, of Greta Thunberg at a protest that symbolizes criticism of the government’s handling of the climate crisis.

This last charge has a clear sender and recipient. Activists complain about the Green Party’s position in relation to Lützerath, a village that will be demolished to expand a coal mine. The issue, which intensified last week, when the evacuation of the area began, attracted more attention with the presence at the protests of the Swedish founder of Fridays for Future —the police were called to disperse the demonstrators, and clashes left injured at the end of week.

Alongside Greta at the venue were members of the German section of Last Generation, the group responsible for some of the acts against works of art in museums across Europe. “The Greens have stabbed the climate movement in the back in Lützerath. Trust has been broken, and the most important prerequisite for our coexistence has been violated,” said activist Raphael Thelen.

Criticism also comes from members of the party itself, who signed an open letter to Mona Neubauer, vice-premier of the North Rhine-Westphalia region, where the village is located, and Robert Habeck, Minister of Economy and Climate – both green. “The agreement negotiated with the RWE company threatens to break with the principles of our party, with the Paris Agreement, the coalition pact [de governo] and with the last confidence of the movement for climate justice”, says the text.

Last year, Habeck and Neubauer struck a deal with RWE, the coal extraction operator, which authorizes the demolition of the village of Lützerath and preserves five others. At the same time, Berlin committed itself to anticipating the end of exploration of the material by eight years, to 2030. The measure, they argue, is part of the strategy of seeking energy autonomy in relation to Russia, an urgency after the war.

The Economy Minister, who is also Scholz’s deputy prime minister, called the agreement a “really difficult painful compromise”, but pondered on Friday (13) that “it had to be like this to guarantee energy security”. Activists claim, however, that the text errs in not providing for limits on the amount of coal extracted and sees a way out of accelerating the transition to renewable energy sources.

This Wednesday (18), in a speech at the World Economic Forum, in Davos, the prime minister highlighted the issue. “Whether you’re a business leader, climate activist or security policy expert, it’s clear to all of us: the future belongs to renewable energy. For cost, environmental and security reasons,” Scholz said.

The events in Lützerath add to a list of contradictions that the Greens have embraced since joining the government — after a 16-year absence — and even more so since the Ukrainian War began. The party, which has its origins in peace movements, has had to put aside campaigns against military spending, nuclear power plants and fossil fuels like gas, oil and coal.

Taking over amidst a wave of optimism, Habeck then had to use rhetorical maneuvers and adhere to pragmatism to, at the same time, respond to Russia and make Germany, Europe’s largest economy, overcome the energy crisis that had been aggravated for decades. of dependence on Moscow gas.

In the last year, the Greens have seen Scholz announce a €100 billion increase in military spending, the construction of terminals to import liquefied natural gas (LNG) from sources such as Qatar and the postponement of the closure of the last nuclear power plants.

Habeck, the government’s most visible face in the dispute in Lützerath, is one of Germany’s most popular leaders. A survey released at the beginning of the month by the Infratest Dimap institute —before the conflict over coal, therefore— showed the also green Annalena Baerbock, minister of Foreign Affairs, as the best evaluated politician in the country, with 49% approval, ahead of Habeck (44%) and Scholz himself (40%). In June, the numbers were, respectively, 60%, 60% and 43%.

In the coalition, however, the difficulties of recent weeks are not restricted to the Greens. The minor partner of the alliance that supports Scholz, the Liberal Democratic Party (FDP), has its best-known leader, Finance Minister Christian Lindner, under suspicion of conflict of interest for a speech made in favor of a private bank whose received a loan.

The SPD, the Premier’s acronym, saw the holder of Defense fall, buried by criticism. Pistorius, the replacement for Christine Lambrecht, took over with the management admitting that the priority will be the challenge of dealing with the pressure for Germany to send tanks to Kiev. Pressure from international allies and from within the coalition, since Habeck has already declared himself in favor of the release so that Poland and Finland can send German armored vehicles to the front.

“The Greens, the FDP, the opposition and German experts have long been advocating a more ambitious position in the defense of Ukraine,” says Rafael Loss, an expert on security and defense policy at the European Council on Foreign Relations in Berlin. “Part of the SPD is hesitant to rethink Germany’s relationship with Russia, with the hope of a diplomatic solution. This ends up withholding decisions that could have taken place earlier and makes Scholz more hesitant.”

For the analyst, both this issue and the contradictions faced by the Greens would have the potential to shake the coalition with or without war. “The government arrived with a transformative agenda, to prepare the country for a carbon neutral future. It is something very ambitious”, he says “But it is also a coalition with a lot of diversity. Disputes would arise regardless of the outside world.”